“It’s one long piece!” my friend exclaims as he takes his first refreshing sips of a Champagne Superpaloma at the Four Seasons Whistler’s Sidecut Steakhouse. It wasn’t noticeable when the server brought the drink over, but now we’re all peering at the long rectangular prism of ice in his highball glass. Bartenders call this cut of ice a spear, and for them, it’s the building block of a great cocktail.
“Ice is the cornerstone of a good bar program,” says Jacob Moore, a local bartender who helped reopen Bar Oso in 2023. “On a busy day, we can go through over 80 king cubes (two by two inches) and 40 to 50 spears (1.3 by five inches). Our guests are drawn to a high level of care, and if we start with the ice, they know that every detail of the drink is considered.”
Although Bar Oso and the Four Seasons make ice in-house, they can’t keep up with demand, so they also order through a company called Kodama, based in Vancouver. These ice artisans pride themselves on crystal clear, symmetrical shapes; if you lift one of their cubes to the light, you can see all the way through it. Ice this precious has to be stored correctly.
“We have a dedicated stand-up ice freezer for the bar,” explains Moore. “Barbacks and the whole team help. It’s an intricate dance of storage, spacing and temperature. But the fact that we give up this space at the bar tells you how seriously we take it.”
Ice for beverages entered the Canadian drinking scene in the late 19th century, before refrigeration, when ice was “harvested” in winter, cut from frozen lakes. Now everyone can make ice, although most melts too fast, is cloudy and may be hollow (we all know these cubes). But bartenders have led a resurgence of craft ice.
“Ice is obviously used to cool a drink, but you also have to consider the dilution of it over time,” explains Rocio Mogollon, lead bartender at the Four Seasons Whistler. “As the ice melts, your drink is evolving. For example, a king cube is great in an old-fashioned because it will melt slowly, retaining the flavours of the whisky. These are my favourite ice cubes because they’re adaptable. Currently, we’re hand-carving diamond shapes using very sharp knives — it’s taken a lot of practice, but it’s fun.”
For Moore, the spear ice is his favourite. “It’s the most eye-catching to me. It benefits highball drinks, as they tend to be our more delicate-tasting, and the spear reduces dilution and allows the carbonation to last longer.”
But it’s not only the shape of the ice that’s considered; custom-made stamps can be used to imprint logos and textures, and of course, there’s what could be added to the ice.
“I’ve experimented with pine needles, flowers, strawberries and cucumbers,” says Mogollon. “For our pool bar, we did an aloe-vera king cube, but the current trend is very clear, clean ice.”
Take inspiration from the pros and up your ice game at home (see sidebar). However, if you want someone else to handle the ice, Moore suggests coming in for their Caught in the Rain cocktail, a clear, sparkling piña colada with spear ice. It doesn’t have the heaviness (or the calories) of the traditional drink — Bar Oso uses a coconut-milk wash — but it retains those tropical summer flavours of pineapple and coconut.
The Braidwood Tavern at the Four Seasons has a new cocktail menu, “The Memoir,” which reimagines cocktails as moments in time served in exquisite, custom-made Italian glassware. Mogollon suggests the Cake for Breakfast cocktail, a tequila-based drink with clarified strawberry cheesecake, yuzu and raspberry, served with a hand-carved diamond ice cube.
It’s all about the ice, ice, baby.
At-Home Ice Tips
- For clear ice at home, use a directional freezing tray, which has space under the mould to collect impurities that sink to the bottom, leaving a clear cube on the top. Otherwise, using filtered water or boiling tap water also helps with clarity.
- Both Moore and Mogollon mentioned branding ice cubes as an impressive but simple way to customize ice. Remove ice from the freezer a few minutes before stamping it with a room-temperature metal brand.
- If you’re adding something to the ice, try to place at one of the edges of the cube where it’ll be the clearest.
More Icy Inspiration
Award-winning bartender Dani Crowley — she’s represented Canada on the global stage at cocktail competitions — shares her take on ice (see story on her fledgling private bartending service on here).
Ice is something I am truly passionate about. I see it as an art form. I love working with clear ice cubes, and freezing beautiful garnishes inside them has become one of my signature touches. It creates a stunning visual element and always leaves a lasting impression on my guests.
Ice is not just about keeping your drink cold. It directly impacts dilution and texture, which are essential to a well-balanced cocktail. Clear, dense ice melts more slowly, meaning your drink stays colder for longer without becoming watered down too quickly. It also adds a beautiful visual element that instantly elevates the entire experience.
One of the easiest ways to do this at home is by paying attention to your ice. If you want to make clear ice cubes, I always recommend using a directional freezing method. Invest in clear ice moulds; the ice freezes from the top down, pushing air bubbles and impurities to the bottom, leaving you with a beautifully clear block on top.